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COVID-19: Ontario mayors call for proof-of-vaccination plan

A sign in the CAA Centre Vaccination Clinic in Brampton, Ontario

As Ontario reports nearly 600 daily new COVID-19 cases, the pressure on Doug Ford’s government to introduce a proof-of-vaccination system is growing.

On Friday, Ontario’s Big City Mayors (OBCM) – a group that represents 29 mayors of cities with 100,000 people or more – urged the province to create a proof-of-vaccination plan to keep businesses, schools and other organizations open now that the province has entered the fourth wave.

“Around the world, certified vaccination records are helping businesses and event spaces to safely open while encouraging more people to get vaccinated,” the OBCM said in a statement. “This will help reduce a fourth wave in Ontario as well.”

The statement goes on to note that the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses, the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and colleges and universities are also calling for a system.

Ford has rejected the idea, telling reporters in July that “we’re not going to have a split society” when asked about a vaccination passport-type system for Ontario.

Earlier this week, the province’s top public health official, Kieran Moore, said a proof-of-vaccination plan is not being discussed. “The government at present has not been reviewing any passport for any internal purposes,” he told reporters during a news conference on August 10.

On September 1, Quebec is planning to implement a vaccine passport system for non-essential businesses such as music venues, restaurants and gyms via an online app. It’s the first province in Canada to undertake such a move.

The federal government also plans to introduce a proof-of-vaccination document for the purposes of international travel this fall.

Ontario to keep COVID restrictions “indefinitely”: reports

There are reports the province will tighten public health measures later this week now that Ontario has entered the fourth wave.

The Ford government will reportedly mandate vaccinations for workers in hospitals and other health-care settings and halt the current plan to lift step 3 public health restrictions once vaccine targets are hit, according to media reports.

Citing unnamed government sources, the Toronto Star reported on Friday that Moore will announce the vaccine mandate for health-care workers, booster shots for vulnerable populations and a pause of the economic reopening plan on Tuesday.

The news comes as Ontario’s Science Advisory Table estimates that daily case counts are doubling every eight days, though hospitalizations and deaths remain low.

On August 14, Ontario reported more than 500 daily cases for a third straight day.

The Ministry of Health confirmed 578 new cases, up from 510 on Friday and 378 last Saturday. The seven-day moving average for new cases is now 428 compared with 231 a week ago.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Twitter that 408 of today’s cases are in unvaccinated individuals and 59 are in partially vaccinated people.

The virus has killed two more people in the past 24 hours, bringing the provincial death toll to 9,418.

Labs in the province processed more than 23,400 tests in the past day, bringing the positivity rate to 2.4 per cent. That’s up from two per cent last Saturday.

There are 111 patients in intensive care units – unchanged from Friday. Of those patients 72 are on ventilators. One ICU patient is fully vaccinated and 53 are unvaccinated. The others are either partially vaccinated for their vaccination status is not known.

To date, more than 81 percent of eligible Ontarians 12 and up have had one dose and 73. per cent have had two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

New COVID-19 cases in Ontario on August 14

The following regions reported five or more new COVID-19 cases:

Toronto = 153

Peel Region = 67

York Region = 64

Hamilton = 57

Windsor-Essex = 42

Niagara Region = 23

Halton Region = 21

Durham Region = 20

Middlesex-London = 20

Waterloo =18

Ottawa = 16

Brant County = 11

Simcoe Muskoka = 10

Chatham-Kent = 9

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph = 8

Hastings Prince Edward = 6

Southwestern = 6

Lambton = 5

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